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Arsene Wenger will rest Jack Wilshere for the midweek Capital One Cup tie

Arsene Wenger will not play Jack Wilshere in Arsenal's Capital One Cup tie at Reading following his return against QPR.

Last Updated: 27/10/12 7:18pm

Jack Wilshere: Made his comeback from injury in Arsenal's win over QPR

The trip to the Madejski Stadium had previously been tipped as a realistic return date for Wilshere but he instead made his comeback from 17 months out in the Gunners' 1-0 Premier League victory over Rangers at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The 20-year-old midfielder was Arsenal's star player in that encounter as he completed 70 minutes, despite a worrying moment where he was floored by an Esteban Granero challenge but returned to his feet unscathed.

Wenger plans to rest Wilshere against the Royals as he eases him back into action but is not ruling him out of next weekend's trip to Manchester United.

The manager said: "We have to see how he responds. After such a long time out, it goes a bit up and down. What is good is that he got kicked today and had no problem. The rest will come with the games.

"Now, after a game like that, I will certainly not play him on Tuesday [against Reading in the Capital One Cup]. Will I play him [at Manchester United] next week? I don't know."

Wenger revealed he had not told Wilshere he would be playing his first game for more than a year until Saturday morning.

"I made the decision without telling him because when you have not played for such long time it is not always easy to deal with that and there is a high level of expectation when he goes on the pitch," he added.

"I told him he was playing at 10.30am today. Sometimes I think it is better when you don't have much time to think about it when you have been out for a long time.

"I also felt the confidence of the team was a bit jaded and sometimes player with experience and quality give a bit of a lift as well."